Official: Iran arrests 10 drug traffickers

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A senior Iranian official says police have arrested 10 drug traffickers and confiscated more than 7 tons of narcotics in a bust of an international smuggling network.

Gen. Ali Moayedi, head of Iran’s anti-narcotics police, was quoted Saturday by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying that the international smuggling network was dismantled after six months of tracking the suspects in cooperation with police in the United Arab Emirates.

Iran lies on a major trafficking route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as Persian Gulf states. Large drug seizures are common across the region.

Moayedi said Iran has confiscated more than 215 tons of drugs in the past five months alone.